Thursday, July 30, 2009

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m J Beanie. I used to run a blog but retired recently. G$ and I became “blogger friends” or the only friends more gay than actual gay friends. But G$ asked me to do some work for him and I have never got around to doing anything until now. (Don’t know if he told you that Mr. Ace but hope you don’t mind sharing this space every once and a while.) So here is what’s on my mind this morning.

So you’re dating this great girl. You have a long history with her. You took a chance on her when she was young by dumping your aging girlfriend because you saw the signs of her getting fat, lazy, having a tendency to go MIA and being pretty much worthless. This girl you are with now isn’t a 10 by any means but she’s a solid 8-to-9 – no doubt a good looking girl who can turn heads. As a couple, you are coming off a great year when everything went your way: Great trips, great presents, great sex, etc. Things currently are a little bit rough, not bad, but rough. Outside pressures have being stressing both you out and your friends are trying to pull you down with drugs, swinging and eating Oreos out of each other’s asses. But the sex remains great, she’s still a knockout and you feel comfortable with her. Would you ever dump her for 15-year old average looking girl who may or may not become beautiful one day and even if she does you can’t do anything with her for three years? Of course not. Especially not even when your current girlfriend has promised you at least another year and a half of great sex and a great relationship. You would never trade in a sure thing for an unknown.

That’s what I don’t get about baseball, especially the Cliff Lee trade. Lee was the current girlfriend who you have been with forever and have built something great with. The Indians didn’t want another year of great sex (pitching) so they dumped him for the average looking 15-year old. Not even a good looking 15-year old. Now we have to wait and see if any of these minor leaguers are any good instead of enjoying another year with Lee.

Lee was going to be in Cleveland next year. There is no way Mark Shapiro can honestly think the Indians are a better team now, or will be a better team next year without Cliff Lee. He said that but there’s no way he can mean it. The Tribe isn’t that bad of a team. I know they suck this year but it’s mainly because of the bullpen. They are about one or two starters away (and Jake Westbrook is coming back soon) and a decent pen from being contenders. Bullpens come and go every year. Next year some of these young guys might get it and some of the vets could turn it around and make the Indians a solid relief corps. Cleveland could have contended in 2010. It’s not like the AL Central is the AL East where you have to be 30 games over .500 to have a chance. Ten games over will win the division.

The Indians can still contend in 2010 but it’s unlikely now and will be impossible if Vic Martinez is gone too. Even if the Tribe has a solid year next year, will anyone be around to watch/care? I think this trade of Lee has turned off almost the entire fan base. They will be lucky to draw 10,000 for each remaining home game. What’s the most frustrating is last year the Indians became the first team to trade a Cy Young winner from the previous year. That worked out so good for them they decided to do it again.

I don’t understand this about baseball. As soon as you have a bad season, you trade all your good players to… what? Build a better team in three-four years? Doesn’t anyone care about winning now? This doesn’t happen in any other sport. Teams rebuild all the time but to trade your best player, the Cy Young winner, for a bunch of guys who more than likely not going to make the big leagues makes very little sense.

On top of all that, Wedge and Shapiro are probably gone after the year. That leaves the next administration in charge of cleaning up their mess. There is a very small window of success for that administration. Wait. This sounds familiar. One coach and GM come in and screw things up and it’s up to the next coach and GM to right the ship only things are so screwed up they have no chance of doing anything positive and they get fired and the cycle repeats itself. That’s right everyone. The Cleveland Indians have just become the Cleveland Browns. Got to love being a Cleveland fan!

(PS - the image has nothing to do with the post, just thought I'd start your day off with a hot chick that had something to do with baseball.)

12 comments:

When I first heard about the trade I was pissed. Then I took a step back and thought, "Hey at least we are going to get some guys that are close to being big league ready." I was upset but at least we were going to get at least one of the guys that the Blue Jays were after in the Halladay talks...WRONG!

I once again underestimated the ineptness of Mark Shapiro. We basically got a bag of baseballs for Cliff Lee. We got NONE of the Phils top 4 prospects. Unbelievable. I am speechless. For one thing, this trade is ridiculous for obvious reasons. For another thing, hearing Shapiro try to justify the trade to the fans makes me sick. Does he think we are all morons? I hope nobody shows up to the games the rest of the year. You're right, Beanie, these idiots are making a huge mess for the guys coming next year and the Indians have become the Browns.

good post beanie, nice to have ya back even for a day... i obviously agree with everthing you said considering we talked about this yesterday.We should have gotten more for Lee alone, let alone throwing Francisco into the deal. yea the guy isnt an all-star by any means, and was having a down year, but he was hitting over .300 for the months of june and july, and had a lot of upside for a young outfielder.Don't be surprised when victor gets traded today for brian peppers...